Nigerian State to tap GWCL expertise
The Taraba State of Nigeria has decided to tap the rich expertise of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to improve its water supply and management systems.
Top ranking officials of the Taraba State, who visited Ghana to under study the GWCL operations, arrived at the decision on Thursday in Accra when they met the management of the GWCL at a wrap-up meeting.
Prior to coming to Ghana, the 12-member delegation led by Engineer (Ing) Musa Buba Siam, General Manager for Water Supply Agency in Taraba State visited Uganda for a similar study. Their study tour of the two countries formed part of a loan approval requirement obtained by the State from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to improve Taraba’s water systems.
“Before we came to Ghana, we were thinking of going to Uganda for the training of our people, but coming to Ghana our neighbour, we have realized that all the expertise and training facilities we needed are here.
“Our choice of Ghana is dependent also on the success story we have heard about the GWCL over the years,” he noted.
Beyond the exceptional warm reception, he said the team enjoyed in the country, Ing Siam said: “Indeed we have learnt a lot from our interaction. They have been very very resourceful.
“Taraba State is just beginning because we virtually depend on Government for everything but now we know from our experience that if given the chance to administer our water supply tariffs we can begin to solve our problems,” Ing Siam said.
Besides, he said, the team had identified some areas of cooperation with the GWCL, especially in the area of training, technology and commercial and consumer care.
He said it was refreshing for the team members to learn that the GWCL was currently using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to stimulate the distribution of the water supply.
GIS is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data that ensures cost savings and efficiency, better decision making, improved communication and better record keeping.
The Acting Managing Director of the GWCL, Mr Godwin Kwaku Dovlo in a brief response noted: “the GWCL’s recognition shows the fact that we are doing something and doing it right.”
He pledged the company’s readiness and commitment to collaborate and share its expertise with the Taraba State of Nigerian stating: “The GWCL currently has an arrangement with the International Water Association to upgrade its training school, but even before that come on, we have the necessary facilities to help your State”.
He hoped the relationship would be nurtured to grow for their mutual benefit.
Ing Senyo Amengor, Deputy MD of the GWCL, said the team members who also called on officials of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing during their visit, were exposed to the human resources and organizational set-up of the GWCL, its financial management system, and the legal instruments binding the company.
He said the GWCL in the past had collaborated with the sister nations in Africa and shared its expertise in water supply system.
Taraba State, created on August 27, 1991 by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida, lies within the middle of Nigeria and consists of undulating landscape dotted with a few mountainous features.
Source: GNA